“Did Sooty leave a number where he can be reached?”
I see Trick stiffen the slightest bit. He doesn’t like being undermined, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Yes, sir. And I have the on-call number of Dr. Flannery as well.”
“That’s as it should be, but I’d like to talk to Sooty. The number?” he says as he strides across the office to the desk.
Trick rattles off a string of numbers and Daddy writes them down then tears the paper off. “Can you two please excuse me?”
I come out from behind the desk. Trick is already at the door. He is waiting for me, but not looking at me. He’s looking straight ahead, at the wall. When I pass him, he shuts the door behind us.
I turn to say something to him, although I have no idea what, but he’s already walking away.
Crap balls!
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Trick
Just get the hell out of there! Just get the hell out of there! Eyes forward, eyes forward!
I fuss at myself as I walk away. Anything to keep from looking back at Cami and doing what I want so badly to do.
How can a female be that frickin’ distracting? She’s like kryptonite! I can’t think straight when I’m around her and I lose sight of everything important. And that shit ain’t gonna fly!
I give myself a good talking to all the way to the stable. I need to focus on getting the rest of the horses exercised and then check on Mint Julep. This job is important. It has to be the most important thing. Has to be!
In my head, I plan out the evening, an evening that does not include Cami Hines. After I check on Mint Julep, I’ll spend the rest of the night going through her record and getting to know everything there is to know about her and her condition. If that jackass boss of mine asks me anything, I want to be able to answer him immediately and without hesitation.
I’m still thinking of anything and everything except Cami as I saddle Highland Runner. I can tell by the way he twitches when I buckle it on that he’s as unsettled as I am. That’s one problem with spending so much time with a wild horse. He responds to me and my moods. And right now, he’s every bit as restless as I am.
“Calm down, boy. It’s all right. I’m gonna take you out and run some of that off.” I stroke the side of his muscular neck as I prepare to lead him out of the stable.
I turn toward the door and there, with the sunshine streaming in behind her, stands Cami. I can’t see her face at all. She’s a black silhouette backlit by blinding brightness. It’s a halo around her.
Like the angel she is.
I stop. Neither of us says anything until she starts walking toward me. I can feel my body reacting to her the closer she gets. My pulse picks up. My breathing gets a little shallow. I feel the need to fidget as I think about pushing her up against the wall and making both of us forget all the reasons I shouldn’t look at her the way I do.
I rationalize to myself that it actually makes perfect sense. I want her so much because I can’t have her. It’s human nature.
I console myself with that knowledge as I watch the sway of her hips as she walks.
Damn, but she’s hot!
She stops in front of me, her hands stuffed into the back pocket of her jeans, making those delicious br**sts of hers strain against the material of her shirt.
“What are you doing down here?” I ask.
I hear her take a deep breath before she answers. “Look, I know you need this job. And you know I have a boyfriend. But we can’t avoid each other completely all summer long. I love to ride and I’m trying to learn more about the business and the horses. And now Sooty’s gone, leaving you with extra work. Seems to me like we ought to be able to at least be friends so we can be around each other, right?”
I don’t want to tear the clothes off of any of my friends!
I think that, but I don’t say it. Instead, I quietly consider what she said, what she’s proposing. It’s a logical thought. I’ll give her that. And if she thinks it’s going to be so easy to be around me without sparks flying, then far be it for me to act otherwise. If she wants to pretend we’re just friends, then I’ll give her what she asks for.
Until she’s begging for something else, my mind finishes perversely. I mentally chastise myself before answering her.
“Just friends?” I shrug. “Sure. I just hope your father’s okay with it.”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s fine.”
I doubt that, but then again, she might be his kryptonite, too. I can’t imagine that she’s heard the word “no” an awful lot in her lifetime.
“If you say so,” I say casually. “Did you come down here just to tell me that?”
“No, I came to help. I can kill two birds with one stone. I can help you and I get to ride. Win-win.”
“And why is it so important that you help me?”
I know I shouldn’t goad her, but I can’t seem to help it. And I have to pay dearly for it when I see her cheeks turn pink before she turns away from me to stroke Highland Runner’s nose.
Her and that blushing!
She must know she’s blushing and I’m reacting, because I can see her pearly white teeth biting into her bottom lip. I clamp my mouth shut against the urge to pull her against me and suck on it for her.
“Well, it helps me, too. I get to learn the horses a little better. You know, the newer ones. I’ve only ever really ridden Firewalker, so…”
“Ahh,” I say noncommittally. “So you’re using me, is that what you’re saying?”
Her head whips toward me and her expression shows regret, as if she really thinks she might’ve hurt my feelings. It just makes her all the more appealing.
“No! That’s not it at all!”
I laugh. She’s adorably gullible, too. It occurs to me that, if Cami has any flaws, I can’t seem to find them.
“Ohmigod, you’re the devil,” she says, trying to conceal the curve of her lips.
“So I’ve been told,” I say, winking playfully at her. When blood rushes to her cheeks again, I bite back a groan. I’m really going to have to quit teasing her or we’ll both end up regretting it.
She clears her throat, obviously searching for a change of subject. “Which other horses need exercising? I can take one, too.”
A few minutes before, I’d decided to take Titan into the round pen, but hitting the trails with Cami is just too appealing.
“Titan. I was going to take him and Runner both out on the trails today.”